A consultation on how to develop a new post-16 qualification - the Advanced British Standard (ABS) - aimed at replacing A levels is being launched by the government today.
School leaders and teachers are being invited to share their views on the design of the new baccalaureate-style qualification, alongside parents and employers.
It comes after the prime minister announced that students in England will typically study five subjects rather than three under the major reforms.
Students would take more subjects post-16
Under the shake-up - which is expected to take a decade to fulfil - 16- to 19-year-olds would take a larger number of subjects at both “major” and “minor” level.
The ABS consultation - which was first announced at the Conservative Party conference in October - has been launched ahead of the Christmas break.
It comes after a policy paper set out the government’s plans to invest £600 million over the next two years to support maths and English resits, including an increase in the levelling-up premium offering early career teachers of shortage subjects in disadvantaged schools “up to £6,000 per year tax free”.
More detailed plans and proposals for delivery are expected to be set out in a White Paper next year, the Department for Education (DfE) has said.
In October, Rishi Sunak said the ABS would bring together A levels and T levels - the government’s flagship technical qualification introduced in 2020 - into a single qualification.
All pupils would study some form of English and mathematics until the age of 18, he said. Once fully rolled out, the ABS would replace A levels and T levels.
‘Academic and technical education on equal footing’
Speaking as the consultation opened on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: “Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to introducing the new Advanced British Standard, which will put academic and technical education on an equal footing, ensure our education system is fit for the future and give all young people the skills they need to fulfil their potential.”
Education secretary Gillian Keegan said: “I encourage everyone to have their say on the development of the Advanced British Standard and help us get these transformational reforms right for business, right for education and, most importantly, right for young people.”
‘Hard to see the ABS being deliverable’
Steve Rollett, deputy chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said: “While CST will always engage constructively with proposals intended to improve education and outcomes for children and young people, it is hard to see a trajectory towards the Advanced British Standard being deliverable.
“To borrow a phrase from Top Gun, the government’s ABS plan is writing cheques its recruitment and retention strategy can’t cash.
“What the system urgently needs is a plan to tackle the resource pressures it faces right now.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “We currently have a severe and deepening funding and teacher shortage crisis in education, and the government is preoccupied with introducing a new qualification, which would take a decade to develop and will probably not happen at all.
“It is difficult to imagine a more pointless waste of energy and time.”
He added: “This is truly a form of headless chicken policymaking.”
Will ABS meet all students’ needs?
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “NAHT supports the principles of parity between technical and academic qualifications, and of broadening the post-16 curriculum.
“However, NAHT members have raised particular concerns about whether the Advanced British Standard will provide a qualification offer which meets the needs of all students and the way in which this policy will affect students who are not working at the current level 3 standard of A levels or T levels.
“We look forward to exploring the detail of the consultation to see if those concerns are allayed.
“Looking at post-16 qualifications in isolation from the rest of our education system shows a complete lack of understanding of the importance of a coherent system from early years to the end of key stage 5.”
